E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & TimesHe had been speaking breathlessly, with excitement. He paused, puffed on hiscigarette. 'I tell you all this,' he continued, 'to show that Gandhi does not wantindependence. He does not want the British to go. He is first of all a Hindu.Nehru does not want the British to go. They want Hindu raj.'Writing 'In Memory of Jinnah', in the London Economist of September 17, 1949,a correspondent, who knew Jinnah well, declared that while Jinnah waspractising law in London someone 'repeated to him that Nehru, whom hedespised and hated, had imprudently said at a private dinner party that "Jinnahwas finished." Outraged, Jinnah packed up and sailed back to India at once justto "show Nehru"... To Cleopatra's nose as a factor in history one should perhapsadd Jinnah s pride.'George E. Jones, the New York Times correspondent who interviewed Jinnahseveral times, writes in his book, Tumult in India, 'Jinnah is a superb politicalcraftsman, a Machiavelli in the amoral sense of that description... His personaldefects are a somewhat hostile reserve, conceit and a narrow outlook... He isan extremely suspicious man, who feels that he has been wronged many timesin his life. His repressed intensity borders on the psychotic. Withdrawn andisolated, Jinnah is arrogant to the point of discourtesy....'Jinnah withdrew from the Congress party just when Gandhi, backed by themasses, ousted the rich lawyers from control. He never liked Gandhi. At publicmeetings in those days, he would refer to Gandhi as 'Mr. Gandhi' which mostIndians regarded as less respectful than Mahatma or Gandhiji; yet whenmembers of the audience protested he persisted. Later, after he returned toIndia and became the undisputed leader of the anti-Congress Moslem League,he zealously guarded his prestige. In 1939, upon the outbreak of the war, theViceroy invited Gandhi and Jinnah to the palace. Gandhi offered to come toJinnah's house to fetch him. Jinnah welcomed that appearance of theobeisance. But he refused to go in Gandhi's car. They both rode in his.Subsequently, when they conferred, Jinnah insisted that the meetings takeplace in his home. Gandhi, who was completely indifferent to suchconsiderations, gladly complied.www.mkgandhi.org Page 452